Geoffroy van Raemdonck

After a hard pivot to e-commerce during the pandemic, many brands are back to working with retailers. This time, they say the terms have changed in their favour.

The luxury department store company plans to win shoppers with redesigned stores, faster shipping and digitised personal shopping.

As the gap widens between the best-performing companies and the rest, M&A activity will increase as leaders manoeuvre to take market share, unlock new opportunities and expand capabilities.

Its restructuring plan eliminated more than $4 billion of debt and $200 million of annual interest expense.

The group won court permission on Friday to leave behind the debts and drama that pushed it into bankruptcy, just a day after its harshest critic was arrested on federal charges stemming from the case.

In the age of e-commerce, defining the role of the store is as daunting as ever. But a brick-and-mortar experience is vital to brand building. A store is still the most important touchpoint between consumer and product, and the right interaction could create a lifetime of loyalty. From Warby Parker’s digital-to-physical evolution to Neiman Marcus Group’s investments in customer service, BoF examines the importance of the store — and how it complements the online experience.

In an exclusive conversation with BoF’s Imran Amed, Geoffroy van Raemdonck expresses optimism for the retailer’s bankruptcy process and explains why brick-and-mortar remains integral to its core business.

The seasoned executive is working to overhaul the Neiman Marcus Group by doubling down on in-store experience and shaking up its portfolio. He joins Imran Amed in a conversation about the future of luxury retail and his vision for the group.

A letter by the creditor suggests that combining the two luxury retailers would create between $2.8 billion and $4.7 billion of value.

Beyond restructuring its $5 billion of debt, the Dallas-based luxury department store chain still needs to reinvent itself to survive in the long run, experts say.